[The following information is still preliminary. Please check back soon for an up-to-date lecture schedule! Thanks!]
Lecture: Prof. Dr. Moritz Diehl
Tutor: Rachel Leuthold
The aim of this lecture course (6 ECTS) is that students understand the physical principles of wind energy and the technology of modern wind energy systems. It consists of lectures and exercises.
Contents:
- global wind energy resource
- aerodynamic principles of wind turbines
- design of modern wind turbines
- control of modern wind turbines
- the electrical system of wind turbines
- alternative concepts and airborne wind energy
Course Organization
The course is organized as a flipped classroom. We provide recordings of lectures and suggest exercises to be completed, with a five-day block course of task-focused instruction. There are office hours offered, for questions, discussions, or other help related to the course-work, once with Prof. Dr. Moritz Diehl, and twice with the tutor (Rachel). The detailed time plan is currently being developed.
Sessions: This 6 ECTS course will be given as a block course, with five full days between: 28.7 - 1.8.2025 from 9:00 to 17:00 (mandatory), in a lecture hall in downtown Freiburg (to be specified), with preparatory meetings beforehand. The lectures on these days are planned to be fast, intense, and interactive!
The schedule of these preparatory meetings is as follows:
| April 23 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Prof. Diehl | Orientation | (optional) | |
| May 7 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Prof. Diehl | Official Kick-Off | (mandatory) | |
| May 21 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Prof. Diehl | Official Follow-Up | (mandatory) | |
| June 4 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Rachel | Office Hours | (optional) | |
| June 18 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Rachel | Office Hours | (optional) | |
| July 16 | 08:30 - 09:55 | with Prof. Diehl | Office Hours | (optional) |
These preparatory meetings will take place in room SR 00-007, Geb. 106
Lecture recordings: The lecture recordings were already created in a past semester.
Course manuscript: The lectures are accompanied by a course manuscript, which you may find here.
Office hours: There will be office hour with Prof. Diehl or the course tutor, where you can ask any questions about the course content. The format is meant to be highly interactive and depends strongly on your participation. We would recommend that while watching the video lectures or reading the course script, you write down any questions that come to your mind!
Exercises: [TBD]
Final evaluation: [TBD]
Schedule [TBD]
Special Events [TBD]
- A guided visit to the the E-138 turbine on Holzschlägermatte, Schauinsland, will be offered in the afternoon of 10.7.2025. The guided visit will be in English (either originally or via translation from German), and will be combined with a short hike to and from the turbine, each way between 45-90 minutes. Further details to follow.
Resources
Wind Energy Handbook is available here.
Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application is available here. This book should be your number one reference if you don't understanding something from the handbook.
Links of interest
- Report on renewable power generation costs in 2018 (by IRENA) (PDF)
- Which way a wind turbine turns might not seem to matter (by the Economist) (screenshot)
- Atmospheric circulation patterns (from wikipedia)
- Article on the Global Energy Transition (by the Economist)
- Albert Betz: Wind-Energie. Cover, Turbine Illustrations, Concluding Sentence
